The Creation Story
This account seeks to explain the Creation Story according to Ada legends. In the Beginning, there existed only the being Ehyeh '''(pronounced E-Hee-YEH), '''who existed as a singularity of all things that might be. Ehyeh was a singular entity, a God, the first and greatest one. Ehyeh contained within their essence, every single element of Creation. However it was locked away, existing as a singular concept. But something within them troubled Ehyeh. After pondering on this, Ehyeh decided to cleanse themself of all the "undesirable, negative, chaotic elements" within them, so that they could achieve a purity and a greater understanding of themself. Through their meditation, they literally separated their "undesirable and chaotic" half. It was in this moment, when Ehyeh separated the positive and negative, defined the two, that The Order was created - The most broad and universal concept of purity and organization. This act also however, brought the Void into being, the opposite of the Order, a vast nothingness of chaos and entropy. Ehyeh's separation of themself splintered the "positive, orderly" half into four beings, three ideas. All were a part of Ehyeh, but all now existed independent of the other, as different understandings of Ehyeh, of the Order. The first was Ehyeh the Father, which appeared as a ball of light. The next was Aetheria the Mother, which was flung far from the Father across the emptiness of the Void. Then came the Brothers of Order, mighty beings named Anui and Sargeras both bearing tremendous power in the form of wisdom of the former, and strength of the latter. The undesirable, chaotic half of Ehyeh did not fade away into the Void. Instead, it manifested itself before the Brothers of Order in the form of a horrid creature known as Yashaaroth. He was the embodiment of all the things Ehyeh casted off; Darkness, chaos, fear, doubt, and so on. Their differences irreconcilable, the Brothers and Yashaaroth erupted into battle against each other. The most ancient duel of light and dark, to decide which would prevail, Order or Chaos. After a vicious battle, Anui and Sargeras defeated Yashaaroth. The Brothers banished Yashaaroth to the infinite darkness that exists outside of the realm of Order, known as the Void. Anui and Sargeras hoped Yashaaroth would be permanently trapped in the Void, but the dark worm took root in the void, becoming one with it, and used it as a vein through which to tap into and poison Creation wherever he could. It is believed Ehyeh the Father instructed the Brothers of their mission; to uphold the Order, and to protect it from Yashaaroth and his tricks. Anui and Sargeras set to work and the Father, according to ancient Ada myths, went to sleep. (Ancient writings made by the Ada suggest that Ehyeh the Father sleeps "in the heart of all Creation". No one is sure what this means). Anui and Sargeras took The Order into their hands as the Father commanded them. However, little did they know that Yashaaroth created his own progeny to do his work; the force known simply as Chaos. Yashaaroth tasked them - Destroy the Order, and kill Ehyeh's children. At this time, Anui and Sargeras were considering how to spread The Order. Suddenly, they were attacked by Chaos and its monstrosities. Anui and Sargeras were immensely powerful, but Chaos numerous and relentless. Eventually Anui and Sargeras managed to defeat Chaos and force them to flee. The Brothers were simply too strong, even for Yashaaroth's minions. After the defeat of Chaos, Anui and Sargeras realized their purpose. Anui took some of his own essence and shaped them into the first spirits. Many great and small spirits were formed from Anui's essence. Anui instructed these spirits to watch over the Order they would create. Together the Brothers set to work, gathering dust floating throughout the Void, and shaping the dust into worlds. They created the Light, balling it up into stars, illuminating the once pitch black Void. They used the warmth from these stars to bake the surfaces of these new worlds, and planted the seeds for life on many worlds. All these were acts of separating the Order from the Void, creating the concept of the Universe we know today. The strongest spirits created by Anui watched and learned how to create. Soon enough, every corner of their Creation had swathes of stars lighting up the darkness, and little worlds floating around them, harboring the earliest life. To the Brothers it was beautiful. They felt that their mission was complete, and that Order has manifested itself as Creation as we know it today. They gave their Creation a name - Araboth, which means "Bright Hope" in the Ada language. But something called to them from beyond the Void. A voice. Sargeras was the first to hear it - a beautiful voice. Sargeras suggested that they seek out the voice's origin. It took some convincing but reluctantly Anui agreed, satisfied with their current Creation and not wanting to go beyond it. In their haste, the Brothers traveled across the void, beyond their beautiful creation, to find the voice echoing in the darkness. Eventually, they found another realm of Light separated from this darkness. This light was the source of the voice. Anui and Sargeras approached, and they looked upon a beautiful woman in the light. It was Aetheria the Mother. Both the Brothers instantly fell in love with the Aetheria. They made her one of them, and taught her how to create. In this new place, they began to form a new Creation, that they named Mundus.' They created a beautiful, luxurious home for themselves, which the Brothers agreed to name Aetherius', in her honor. However, the woman was growing closer to Anui than Sargeras. Sargeras sensed this, but refused to believe it. However, one night, Sargeras found Anui and Aetheria laying together, and that Aetheria was in fact pregnant with Anui's children. Sargeras went into denial, but quickly burst into rage. He was furious that the woman he dedicated himself to, and that he loved more than Creation itself, could turn her back on him for his brother. Yashaaroth seized this moment, and whispered maddening, infuriating thoughts to Sargeras, implanting the seeds of darkness into his soul thanks to his vulnerability in the moment. When Aetheria confessed that she loved Anui, not him, Sargeras could no longer fight, he surrendered to Yashaaroth's whispers as darkness consumed him. He took upon the aspects of chaos; doubt, anger, and most importantly, hatred. These negative aspects took over him, changing his heart forever. Anui and Aetheria tried to calm and reassure him, and Sargeras responded by attacking his brother, and beating Aetheria nearly to death. Still, he was driven off by Anui, and fled in bitterness to be alone. Meanwhile, Anui tried to heal and nurse Aetheria back to health, but she was wounded too badly, death was almost certain. After an inexplicable temporal period, Sargeras returned even more far-gone, hatred now having consumed him completely, and his body changed into a being of pure hatred and malice. He looked upon Creation with hatred, for it represented the Love he could not be a part of. He began to destroy Aetherius, but Anui came and challenged him. Anui knew he could not defeat his Brother, but he heroically stood against Sargeras, selflessly, to try and protect Aetheria, who was about to give birth. The Brothers battled once again, Sargeras far more powerful than last they met. Anui was battered and beaten again and again, but he fought until the last measure of strength left his body. The brutal battle ended with Sargeras impaling his Brother on his dark blade. Having finished Anui, the dark brother decided to deal with Aetheria. However, she used her last power to birth her children, the Ae'ada, the ones known today as gods. Seeing their mother come under attack, the Ae'ada defended her and battled Sargeras. The Ae'ada were extremely powerful when united, and Sargeras could not stand against them. The Fallen Brother fled, but part of his soul was accidentally cut out by the holy blade of the eldest Ae'ada, Anurel. Having successfully defended their mother, the Ae'ada came to their dying mother's side. Aetheria was filled with love for her children and gave them the task of protecting the Order from all who would destroy it. After she spoke these words, she passed. She died with her eyes full of tears, her heart full of sorrow; for her dead husband, as well as for her fallen friend. However, her heart was full of hope that in the end, good would prevail in all Creation. She left this task to her children. Aetheria was buried, and the Gods built up a mighty city around her tomb. The gods discovered the artifact of dark power, Sargeras' soul fragment. They recognized it as evil and sealed it away, burying it beneath their world so it may never cause harm. The name for this world remained Aetherius, in honor of the great mother who birthed the gods. They ruled over this world, and upheld the Order given to them. The Ae'ada, now known as gods, became the rulers of Aetherius, with Anurel as their leader. As head of the gods, Anurel instituted reverence of Anui, the one creator (The Gods recognized Sargeras as a creator as well, but they do not recognize him as a deity of worship). Under his rule, the Gods experienced a great period of prosperity and peace, and they lived together in a divine kingdom. However, Anurel's brother, Aku, grew jealous of Anurel's power and fame, and also disapproved of the prevailing philosophy of virtue, which be believed to be untrue. The brothers debated frequently, and even got at each other's throats many times. Aku claimed Anurel was too weak to lead the gods to true power, and Anurel claimed Aku was disgracing the Order set in place by their father and mother. Eventually the division became so severe that Aku grew angry and hateful to his brother. He was whispered to by Yashaaroth the black worm, and was supposedly told horrid truths about Creation and the Void which led to him turning against Anurel. Aku taught the "truths" he was told by Yashaaroth to other gods, telling them of the glorious power they could achieve if they took on the dark aspects of Creation. Those gods that sided with Aku became known as the Dark Gods. They took on the aspects that corrupted Sargeras, the essences of Y'shaarj. (See the Dark Gods article for more information). They then declared war on Anurel and his loyal followers, (whom were now known as Divines).' Thus, the Aetherium War began, the war that would decide who has the right to rule, the vile Dark Gods, or the benevolent Divine Gods.'